


The Girl on the Bus

by SailorStyx



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, It's so minor, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, Pre-Canon, The other three Shitennou never appear and are never confirmed to be mentioned, The word ass is used once but I don't think that alone justifies bumping up the rating, There's no confirmation in-story that the protagonist is Jadeite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 11:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17042573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorStyx/pseuds/SailorStyx
Summary: A young man is on his way to a job interview when a striking young lady catches his eye.





	The Girl on the Bus

**Author's Note:**

> I felt the burning need to write some R/J especially since it's not going to appear in my other fic (it's not dead I promise) and I'm always hearing that there's never enough well-written R/J. So here's my (first) contribution to this tragically underrated ship.

Maybe this time, he thought, I’ll get the job. The young man hurried down the street to catch his bus to the business district. He really needed this job. Money was running low. They couldn’t live off of relatives forever. And the relatives in question weren’t even aware there had been a breach in their bank accounts. 

It wasn’t his style anyway. It was dishonest and a crime to boot. He had always been uncomfortable with the idea and didn’t understand why the other two, including their fearless leader, had agreed to it. Forrest had always had issues with people judging him by his cover. Didn’t this just confirm those peoples’ initial impressions? Amir seemed to have a loving family who would willingly give him all the money in the world if he just asked them upfront. It really didn’t seem to bother them.

That’s why he needed to nail this job interview. So they could go straight. He couldn’t sleep at night. It haunted his dreams what would happen to them if they were caught. Sure, their fearless leader’s family might be able to weasel him out of jail time, but the other three? He and Forrest were nobodies. Their families couldn’t save them. Alfred’s station was comparable to Amir’s , but with one important difference: he had never gotten along with his family, so they could care less if he rotted in jail. Alfred couldn’t go to jail; he’d never survive. 

Yes, he squinted his eyes as a blast of cold March air burned his face. For Alfred’s sake, for all their sakes, he needed to get this job. And he couldn’t be late. His youth and inexperience didn’t endear him to prospective employers as it was and showing up late to a job interview just made things worse, almost guaranteeing he wouldn’t be called back for another interview. 

The others didn’t understand. They assured him the money would keep flowing, so getting a job would be pointless. Besides, a career would distract them from the mission. A mission they had been working on for almost a year now. They doubted his commitment, even though none of them was more committed to it than he was. He was the grand vizier of loyalty. Why couldn’t they see that? Why couldn’t they understand that this wouldn’t be a distraction and would actually help them in the long run? 

He knew the search was taking longer than any of them anticipated or hoped, but he didn’t feel like that warranted blaming him. Everything was getting worse: Forrest’s temper, Amir’s haughtiness, Alfred’s isolation. He couldn’t remember the last time they had had a nice conversation at dinner filled with their hopes and dreams and what would happen when they completed their mission. Now they just stared at their food as they ate in awkward silence. He didn’t even know why their fearless leader insisted on them all eating together anymore; it was a painful reminder of how strained their relationships with each other had become over the past couple of months. He assumed it was due to said leader being a stickler for tradition. He had always been a hard ass. 

He shivered as another blast of cold air hit him. The weather probably had a hand in it, too. Winter forced them all to be in the house almost constantly, severely slowing down their search and reminding them of how little they had accomplished. He, Amir, and Forrest all despised the cold, so the latter two had been in bad spirits ever since the weather turned. The good news was spring was right around the corner and he personally couldn’t wait. Maybe things would get better with the arrival of the season of new growth. It would be a new start and they could begin searching in earnest again. Maybe the others would see that getting a job was a great idea. It would be awesome if he could land one within the next two weeks, to coincide with spring’s arrival and two out of three of his companions’ moods lightening. 

He breathed deeply. This thought gave him hope and he felt better already. Now to concentrate on the job interview. He was coming upon a bus stop, but it was not the one he needed, which was a little further on down the street. As he came closer, he could make out the figures standing at it. One of them unexpectedly caught his eye. It was cold, but not cold enough to be bundled up. Most people out today were wearing light jackets, leaving them otherwise very visible. One of the people at the stop was a young lady. She had skin the color of ivory and long hair that flowed past her waist the color of raven’s feathers. She was very beautiful and had an ethereal air about her. 

The bus had just pulled up as the young man was within two yards of her. She did not look anywhere but ahead as she boarded. This stop may not have been the one he needed, but it was the one he _wanted_. A snap decision occurred in the young man’s brain to follow the young lady onto the bus, as if he was afraid she would vanish into thin air she was so delicate and fae looking, his determination to get a job all but forgotten. He was the last to board and by that time all the seats were occupied, so he was stuck standing. He chose a handle near the door on the right-hand side of the bus, the one facing the stop, and held on tight as the bus lurched forward. He chose to stare out the window just behind the driver’s seat so he could survey the passengers, but not seem obvious about it. Out of the corner of his left eye, the young man could see the gorgeous young lady sitting a few rows from him. She was even more elegant looking sitting down than standing up. Her hands appeared to be in her lap and she had a stern, emotionless gaze, but that did not off-put the young man one bit. 

He decided to stay on the bus as long as she was on it. That turned out to be a very long time as her stop was near the end of the route. When she finally got up, indicating that this was her stop, he started sweating, realizing that her leaving meant that she would have to walk right in front of him. He tried to act natural and not let the butterflies in his stomach or dry mouth give him away. He kept his eyes firmly on the window, hoping they wouldn’t lock onto her as she passed him. It was hard, but he succeeded. Again the young woman’s gaze remained on what was in front of her, giving no indication of interest or even noticing that he existed. He was just another passenger to her. 

He longed to turn his head and see where she got off at (he was not familiar with this part of town or the bus route), but once again did not desire to be obvious in his intentions. The route only had two more stops after hers. He stayed on, planning on riding back to the stop he boarded at. Since the bus was now empty and the young man had his choice of seats, he sat down in the seat directly behind the driver and scooted all the way to the window, the window he had previously been absentmindedly staring at. He now intended to look out of it for real and hoped to catch a glimpse of where the young lady had gone to. 

The bus pulled away from its last stop and eventually turned around. As the bus neared its third-to-last stop, the young man kept an eye out for the stunning ivory-skinned woman with the silky black hair. The bus stopped to pick up more passengers. The young man could see that the mystery woman’s stop was right in front of a Shinto shrine. And there, within the yard of the shrine, was the mystery woman. She was clad in a _miko_ ’s uniform, sweeping the premises with a broom. The young man was shocked because he thought her older (the way she held herself certainly suggested it), but if she was wearing a _miko_ outfit, it indicated she was quite a bit younger than that, probably somewhere around his age, and this was her after school part-time job. On the other hand, he found it fitting, for she was a traditional Japanese beauty and such an occupation suited her. 

His gaze locked on her sweeping as the bus pulled away with new passengers. About twenty minutes later, the bus dropped him off where he had boarded. He walked a few feet from the stop in the direction he had walked to it and leaned against the stone wall behind him. For the first time in what seemed like forever, his head was clear and he could remember why he was here in the first place. He checked his watch for the time, even though he knew too much time had passed to be able to make it to his interview now. Forty-five minutes to be precise. In fact, they would be calling his name right now. And he wasn’t there. They would move onto the next available applicant. 

Strangely, it didn’t bother him, even though he still had a desire to be employed and earn an honest living. There was just something about that girl. She gave him a feeling like he had never felt before. This was intriguing in and of itself; he had had crushes and a couple of girlfriends in the past, but had never felt this way about any of them. He didn’t know if this was love--a deeper love--or something else. However, the young man wasn’t particularly interested in finding this out.

What he was interested in was seeing that girl again. Maybe if he talked to her he would find out why she captivated him so much. He could get a job working at that shrine, thus satisfying both desires. Shrines were always in need of help from his experience. He did not know at this point if any potential job would be part-time or full-time; it would depend on their need and the head priest. Hopefully he would make a good impression; his youth in this case might actually help him land a job. Older people always lamented that the youth did not seem very interested in the traditional ways.

He had to at least try. Forrest was always saying stuff like you don’t know if you never try. What was the name of that shrine again? The young man realized he hadn’t looked at the sign identifying what branch of Shinto shrines it belonged to at all. He briefly cursed himself for being so blinded by the girl that he forgot to do something so elementary. But lightened up when he also realized he knew the location; all he had to do was retrace his steps today to find it again. And when he found it again, he could look. He was planning on going back again anyway to ask for a job (so of course he would look. As long as that girl wasn’t in the yard to distract him). This train of thought full of “duh” moments made him feel embarrassed. He could already feel his cheeks start to burn bright red. Now he knew why Alfred was the smart one. 

To shake it off, he straightened up and started walking home. The guys would be wondering where he was anyway. He told them he was just going for a walk, a lie to discredit their suspicions he was going to yet another job interview. It had been almost fifty minutes since he left the house; it was about time he head back anyway. His hatred of the cold was well-known and if he stayed out any longer it would arouse the guys’ suspicions all over again (if Alfred wasn’t tracking him down this very second). 

So it was settled; the next day he would find some way to slip out of the house, return to the shrine, and apply for a job. Unfortunately for and unbeknownst to the young man, he would never get the chance.


End file.
